Whatever You Do, Don't Close Your Eyes
by Ilikeblueberries
Summary: When Bill finds an object that won't let you wake up, you just have to make sure you don't fall asleep. This could probably be K , but I don't want to take any chances.
1. Chapter 1

Hi, guys! This is my first fanfic on this site and I'm very open to critiquing and comments because I need it. I do not own Gravity Falls and in this story they're trying not to fall asleep which is kind of like this horror movie I'm pretty sure and anyway I don't own whatever movie that is.

"I just had 24 hours straight of visitors to the Mystery Shack and," Gruncle Stan breathes in deeply and tiredly before saying, "it was all totally worth it!" Stan grabs fistfuls of money out from his coat and laughs loudly. "Anyway, kids, I'm taking a nap. Wake me for dinner. And you," Gruncle Stan points at Waddles menacingly, "Don't you dare eat all my ice cream while I'm gone. Not again." He takes off up the stairs with dollar bills flying out from his fez.

Dipper and Mable are sitting on the floor watching another episode of "Ductective" and rubbing Waddle's belly. In the room over, Wendy yawns loudly and says, "Hey, guys, I'm pretty tired too, can I just crash here for a couple hours before I head home?"

"Yeah, of course!" Dipper answers quickly before his face turns red and tries to cooly reply, "I mean, yeah sure if you feel like it."

Wendy looks at him and chucles and then she throws her boots off and jump on the couch. Mabel turns her attention towards Soos who is sweeping up the gift shop and asks if Soos would like to stay. "No thanks, dudes, my abuelita is making cookies and I've been waiting all day to eat them. In fact," Soos looks down at his wrist as if there was a watch there before continuing, "my time has come." He immediately drops the broom and runs out the door yelling, "I'm coming for you cookies!"

Dipper and Mable, even though they aren't the only ones in the shack with Wendy on the couch, Ford in the basement, and Stan in his room, feel as if they are. Dipper thinks about which book he should read to take advantage of the silence, but the silence doesn't last long because Mable jumps on top of him and screams, "Extreme mini-golf championship in our room NOW!"

"Haha, okay Mable. I'll race you to the room!" And with that Dipper runs up the stairs.

Mable grabs Waddles and yells, "Waddles attack him!" Waddles takes a couple steps and lays down. Mable grabs her grappling hook and shoots it so it wraps around something upstairs that sounded like it was broken now, but Mable flys up the stairs and barely beats her brother. The Mystery Shack is full of laughter and golf balls and snoring, but everything feels just right to the Mystery Twins.

Meanwhile, in another dimension, Bill uncovered an object that had been hidden for centuries and he holds it up laughing, and laughing, and laughing.

Sorry, for the short chapter! I'll see if you guys like it and see if there's and critiquing and then, hopefully, continue on.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Bro, bro, when is the pizza ever going to get here? I am so hungry!" Mable complains while laying on the ground pretending to lift weights, but actually just lifting her mini-golf club higher and lower.

"Mabel, come on, you just ate an entire box of sprinkles, how are you hungry? But, anyway, the pizza should be here in," Dipper began counting down on his fingers and contemplating a page of math he did and then he announced loudly, "now!"

Nothing happens. Mabel starts laughing and Dipper keeps his hand in the air refusing to give up hope when the doorbell rings. "Haha, Mabel, you have no idea how much work I put into making sure I knew exactly when he would ring the doorbell and, wow, there were so many variables, and, and." Mabel had run out of the room already. "Okay, or don't listen. Whatever," Dipper sighed, but regains some joy and runs downstairs.

He approaches the door to see Mabel holding the pizza and telling the pizza delivery guy who was walking away, "No, you have a great night!"

Dipper turns and punches the code into the vending machine that makes it open and yells down to Gruncle Ford full of reverence, "Gruncle Ford, dinner!"

In response Ford calls back, "Okay, Dipper, let me just dehydrate the quintomagaflumber in the ryhygor."

Dipper makes a mental note to ask him what that is, but runs upstairs to Gruncle Stan's room to wake him up for dinner. Gently opening the door so he won't wake him suddenly and get yelled at, he steps in to see his grunkle sleeping, but sees that he's flinching and looks like he's in pain. He slowly comes closer and sees that his face is scrunched up like he's trying to hold in the hurt. "Gruncle Stan, wake up, are you okay?" Dipper asks with his eyes wide and sweat forming at his forehead. Stan, still sleeping, turns over on his back breathing hard and grunts like he just got punched. Dipper looks into the air and says a quick prayer before running downstairs saying, "Ford, Ford, Ford," but as he gets closer his voice gets louder and more panicky.

He scampers into the kitchen to see Gruncle Ford and Mabel arguing and laughing about whether there should be sprinkles on the cheese pizza laid in front of them. "Haven't you had enough sprinkles to last you a lifetime?" Ford says to Mabel.

Mabel throws a handful of sprinkles into the air and screams triumphantly, "Nope!" Waddles sneakily comes up and chomps half the pizza into his mouth and crawls away.

Ford and Mabel and are giddily chasing Waddles when they see Dipper run in with his face red, sweat falling, and his face fallen. "Guys, somethings wrong with Gruncle Stan."

Ford hops from his seat and climbs up the stairs with Mabel, Dipper, and Waddles following closely. Mabel's face has changed from her typical smile and bright eyes to a stern look with determination to help. They burst into Stan's room to a seemingly peaceful looking Stan.

Sliding down on his knees next to the bed, Ford sees Stan's moment of rest be disrupted by him groaning and rolling to the other side of the bed where, even though no one was kicking him, it looked as if he was being kicked because he was being flung from one side of the bed to the other with a grunt emerging from his mouth.

"Stan, wake up, what's going on. Stan! Bro! Are you okay? What's wrong?" Ford pleads with Stan. He quickly raises to his feet to grab the glass of water next to Stan's bed and frantically pours the water on Stan trying to wake him up. When nothing happens, Mabel jumps on his bed and tries to tap his forehead, but Stan is lurched again pushing Mabel off the bed.

"Mabel!" Dipper runs to his sister on the other side of Stan's bed.

"I'm okay, I'm okay. Gruncle Ford what's happening?" Mabel loudly questions.

"I think I know," Ford announces grimly. He holds Stan still while Stan jerks his head mumbles for something to please stop and Ford delicately lifts Stan's eyelids open to see them glowing yellow.

"Bill," Dipper and Ford snarl at the same time.

"I theorize that Bill might have come across an object I heard about in the other dimension. It's a carving that allows the holder to keep anyone asleep for however long they wish. Even until the end of the world or their life. I suspect since Bill can only come into our minds that he has to wait until someone falls asleep on their own and then keeps them asleep instead of being able to make us all fall asleep at once. Kids do not fall asleep until we figure this out. Bill can keep us asleep and torture us in our minds," Ford says while staring at the floor.

Stan starts to yell, but then curls up and whimpers. It almost breaks Ford. Ford quickly thinks back to their childhood, he hardly ever saw Stan scream because of pain even when he broke both arms at once, but whimpering was something he had not ever seen Stan do. Stan whimpering meant the pain was almost unbearable.

"Is Bill only doing this to Gruncle Stan," Mabel asks delicately to Ford.

While Ford thinks for a moment, Dipper's eyes widen as he whispers, "Wendy..."

They all simultaneously break into a sprint and run to Wendy on the couch. She too is in pain. Tear stains streak her face and she holds her leg with her eyes squeezed and is breathing loudly.

Dipper kneels next to her and whispers pleadingly for her to be okay. Ford clicks on the T.V. to see the news talking about the danger of falling asleep. "Citizens all across Gravity Falls are falling asleep into a state of seeming-like torture. The cause is unknown, but we warn you not to fall asleep. Citizens are not waking up. Repeat citizens are not waking up. In other news, the mall has an Orange Saturday sell and," Ford clicks off the television set.

"Ford, how can we stop Bill?" Dipper asks grabbing Ford's sleeve.

Ford paces into the kitchen and immediately starts brewing coffee. As he pours in bottles of energy drinks and extra caffeine into the coffee he plans saying, "First of all, we are going try not to close our eyes for anything more than a blink. Second of all, I'm going to tell you everything I learned about Bill. Third of all... I'll try to figure out that next."

After giving each of the kids the largest cup of coffee they'd ever seen, he gave them hot towels and told them to try to comfort Wendy and Stan in any way possible. As Mabel was running off, Ford grabbed her shoulder and spun her around before pulling her close and whispering, " Mabel, I have a feeling you'll be one of the last ones awake. I've never seen an individual with as much energy as you. You're going to have to listen to everything I say and be very brave. Got that?"

"Kapeeche! Wow, my energy is going to be useful. When this over I'm so going to get to advertise energy bars on commercials!" Mabel throws another handful of sprinkles in the air and runs off to help her Grunkle and Wendy and maybe get to help everyone.


	3. Chapter 3

Ford slams his coffee on his desk in frustration, but checks himself knowing anger isn't going to help the ones Bill is holding captive or himself for that matter. A tear slips out and Ford is starting to deal with emotions that he was trying to block out by doing work. He didn't want how he feels to get in the way of finding out how to save everyone.

He sniffs and goes to pick his pencil up, but then sets it down again and looks into a far corner of the room. Two small arms wrap around his waist surprising Ford and making him jump. He turns and sees it's Mabel. Realizing his watery eyes, Ford blinks and tries hard to sound steady despite his shaky voice saying, "Oh, Mabel, hi, um, just trying to find someway to, to."

"Gruncle Ford it's okay. I know it's hard," soothes Mabel. Ford reaches down and wraps his arms back around Mabel and picks her up onto his lap. She puts her head into his chest and they stay just like that for a moment. Mabel brings her head out reassures, "We're going to figure something out."

Right on cue Dipper runs into the basement with Journal 3 in his arms announcing, "I figured something out! I figured something out!"

"See I told 'ya," Mabel tells Ford laughing as she hops off his lap.

"Dipper, what is it?" Inquires Ford back to his calm, deep voice and feeling much more stable after being comforted by his grand-niece.

"Well, I was flipping through some of my own entries that I made and something I forgot about that seemed barely relevant to anything regarding me was this serum that the gnomes make and it allows for an inter-dimensional species to be forced to make a bargain with you, but I thought, since the gnomes told me this, that it was all made up, but it might be real."

Ford contemplates what he just heard and says, "Bargaining with Bill is risky, but maybe I can try it. The only way to get the serum into our dreams where Bill is is to be looking at the serum when we fall asleep."

Dipper looks at Ford then back at Mabel and says giddily, "Who wants to follow me to the gnome hideout?"


	4. Chapter 4

Before the Mystery Twins and Gruncle Ford ran to the gnome's part of the forest, they placed new hot towels on Stan and Wendy's foreheads and whispered into each of their ears that they are going to figure something out.

Kicking open the front door, Ford leaps out onto their porch followed by Dipper and Mabel and then they all run off into the forest. "Where do the gnomes stay again? I haven't encountered them in thirty years," asks Ford.

Dipper coughs into his elbow before replying, "Straight and to the right- follow me!"

Not too long after, the trio bursts into the gnome's hide-out in a large oak tree. Mabel grabs a gnome and holds him cooing, "Oh, you are so, so, so cute!"

"Schmebulock," said the gnome.

Another gnome walks up to Mabel and leans against a gnome-sized table and says loudly, "Ah, my queen Mabel. I see you've come to your senses to become my bride. When should the wedding be?"

"Ew, no, gnome-guy, I thought you got over that- that was, like, the beginning of the summer."

The gnome's face falls and he grimly sits down and snarkily says, "Okay, then why are you here? And what's wrong with Stretch. You look a little green there, buddy."

Mabel and Ford shift their attention to Dipper who does in fact look a little green. Ford places his hand on Dipper's shoulder and Mabel grabs his cheeks asking, "Are you okay, Dipper?"

Dipper backs away and reassures them in a very non-reassuring voice, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

Ford takes his hand off Dipper and looks back to the gnomes, getting back to business, and inquires, "We request your inter-dimensional bargaining serum."

Surprisingly, Schmebulock begins to speak in a deep voice saying, "The serum can only be given if it is to be used for a worthy cause."

"Our cause is very worthy," Ford tells Schmebulock.

The gnome looks at him very carefully before smiling and handing Ford a vile filled with a bright pink serum saying, "Schmebulock."

"Thank you," calls Mabel as the three run back to the shack.

"Marry me!" Yells Mabel's old 'boyfriend'.

Arriving back at the Shack, Ford sets the serum on the kitchen table and grabs some eggs saying, "Before we embark on this quest to save the citizens of Gravity Falls including my brother and Wendy, lets have some omelets as energy."

Mabel sits down at the table and yawns and Ford sets down an omelet and another cup of coffee in front of her. When Ford goes to Dipper, Dipper holds his hands in front of him and says, "No thanks, Gruncle Ford. I'm not really hungry."

Gruncle Ford looks at him strangely. They hadn't eaten anything since breakfast; why isn't he hungry. He reaches his hand onto Dipper's forehead and feels that it's very hot, yet Dipper's teeth are chattering. "Dipper how do you feel?" Asks Ford in his usual serious voice, but with a light and caring touch.

Dipper looks down before responding quietly, "To be honest, not too hot."

Ford isn't sure what to say. He's never been the best at personally taking care of someone. When he was a kid, he would work and make money to buy medicine whenever someone in his family was sick, but he never gave them the medicine. He could make soup for someone, but he wasn't the one to offer the soup to whoever was sick.

"Well, um, try to eat up anyway. You need the energy so you don't fall asleep," says Ford.

Dipper, who looks like he was about to fall asleep, replies, "No, please, Gruncle Ford, I really don't think I can keep anything down right now."

Ford, who knew that even if you didn't want food when you were sick that you needed it, encouragingly insists, "At least have a bite or two."

Dipper delicately picks up his fork and cuts his omelet into tiny parts. Ford finishes his omelet and says, "I'm going to fall asleep and try to focus on the serum so I can bring it into my dream. You two, stay awake and try to comfort Stan and Wendy while I confront Bill. If things aren't resolved by at least an hour after I fall asleep, then that means that something went wrong and one of you are going to have to bring the serum into your dream and make a deal with Bill. If that's the case, then whatever you do, do not trust Bill and make sure there are no loopholes whatsoever in your deal. Got it?

"Aye, aye, Captain Ford," salutes Mabel.

"Okay, Gruncle Ford," nods Dipper solemnly as he takes a very small bite of his omelet.


End file.
